In various surgical procedures, the physician typically has to make an incision in the patient in order to remove unwanted tissue, repair damaged tissue, implant a device, or perform exploratory surgery, among other procedures, to improve the patient's well being. In certain cases, two or more of these activities must be done in a single procedure. For example, in cataract surgery the physician removes the natural lens that has been clouded by a cataract from the patient's eye and replaces it with an artificial lens that will improve the patient's eyesight. In order to perform this procedure, an incision is made in the cornea of the eye by the physician using a scalpel. This provides the physician with access to the patient's lens whereby the clouded lens is cut loose and removed. As known to those skilled in the art, there are a number of different procedures such as extracapsular surgery and phacoemulsification that are used to remove a patient's lens that has a cataract, and still further, a number of devices for use in these procedures.
Typically a nurse or other surgical assistant manages the devices that are used during such intricate surgeries. For example, the assistant ensures that the appropriate sterile devices are available in the operating suite for the particular procedure that is to be performed. With respect to scalpels, the nurse often hands the scalpel to the physician in a predetermined orientation so that the physician can grip the scalpel's handle without taking his or her eyes away from the patient. This also minimizes the possibility that the physician will be cut with the blade on the scalpel. After the physician completes the incision, the scalpel is handed back to the assistant for proper disposal or sterilization. This requires the assistant to place the used scalpel on a particular tray that will be removed after the procedure is completed. The devices on the tray are then disposed of, or are sterilized for reuse.
Examples of such prepared devices include keratome blades that are used for cutting eye tissue and which are commonly provided in sterile packaging. Details of keratome blade devices are discussed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. U.S. 2002/0065532 issued to Harrold et al., the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference. As noted in the Harrold patent application, when a keratome blade is to be inserted into a keratome, a package is opened and the keratome blade is grasped by a user with gloved or otherwise covered fingers. Often the blade is first inspected under a microscope to ensure that the cutting edge of the blade is intact. Such inspections, however, may be difficult to perform with tweezers or finger grasping since, in either case, the user must exert a force to hold the blade, and while held, portions of the blade will be hidden from view by the holder. After inspection, the blade is manually placed onto a blade support that is inserted into a keratome. During this process, there is a possibility that contaminants or particulates can be introduced to the blade or the cutting edge may be damaged. Furthermore, in handling the blade with fingers, the user faces a risk of being cut by the blade even when the use precautions noted above are followed.
Accordingly, a need exists for a system and method for securely attaching a blade to a surgical knife handle, and allowing manipulation and inspection, while eliminating the risks and difficulties described above.